


Beginning of the End?

by jack_of_hearts



Series: [insert a really clever title here] [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-27
Updated: 2013-12-11
Packaged: 2017-12-27 18:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/982095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jack_of_hearts/pseuds/jack_of_hearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where the Alternians are at war against Earth, and the humans aren't fairing so well. When a small band of trolls makes them an offer they can't refuse, Dave Strider is swept up into a world he'd not all entirely sure he wants to know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Greetings And The Best Of Salutations,  
I Do Hope This Letter Finds You Well. In Actuality, I hope this letter finds you at all. I can only pray that I was capable of infiltrating your anti-troll security systems and successfully figure out your rudimentary mail delivery service, all while staying undiscovered by my own empress, whom is the cause of my contacting you.  
While it is clear that our races have not had the best of relationships since our mutual discovery of one another. I can only offer my condolences for the loss your people have seen since the Empress began her campaign to take over your planet and enslave, or genocidally destroy your race. I have yet to discover her full intentions for your future. By now you are more than aware that your planet is out matched in nearly every way. Speed, weaponry, and shear verocity of our race quickly make your own attempts at space travel seem childish at best.  
I do not mean to offend you. I simply mean to offer my hand in your aid. There is a group of us who do not believe in the empress's tyrannical decisions to send our adults to space while mercilessly leaving our grubs to the lusi on our planet to either live or die horribly. It is far to militarisitic in my own opinion, however my personal views should not persuade you to make any particular decision.  
There is a collection of trolls and a few humans who have already joined us to complete something capable of bringing peace to both our kinds. Obviously I cannot divulge more information than this. I simply request an audience with you to discuss this further. I will arrive at your hive in three days time. Please accept my letter of announcement with gratitude and cheer. I shall do as customary by your race and bring  a present.

Yea, that was the opener to your day. You stare down at the paper for a moment longer, taking in the symbol at the bottom. An "M" with what looked like a wrapped tail at the end. Before the war you would have called it a Virgo symbol, but this had been written by a troll hand. That once cheesey, magazine horoscope joke now stood for a cold blooded, horned killer's name. And you didn't even know it. Some were known, Peicies, or "Her Imperial Condecension." Capricorn had come to stand for the most terrifying motherfuckers you could find on the battlefield. But fuck, you didn't even know this bastard's name.  
"Well, what do you think?"  
You look up from the letter and frown a bit. There was no right way to answer your superior's question. In honesty, you're surprised the letter even reached her. "I think it's either a poorly announced abduction or a very confused alien."  
"You and I have the same views then." Rose takes the letter from you and sits down at her desk. She was never really proud of her appointment to leader of the Human forces in the battle against the Alternians, but she had the ability to do it. If something needed done, she was able to push aside her own feelings and make sacrifices that war required. Not to mention she was smart as hell and good at judging the reactions and personalities of others, as little as you were willing to admit that.  
"What do you plan to do? That dates got you looking at today as when this troll's gonna show up. Do you want us to kill on sight? Or will we even get the chance?" That was the bigger question. Trolls of various rankings seemed to have various abilities. Some could telekenically move shit around and squash you with your own car. Some could make any electronic blow to hell. Some made animals go crazy, some were capable of putting an entire platoon to sleep and others could make you shoot the guy next to you without a second thought. Trolls were not to be fucked with. The usual situation was kill first ask questions later.  
"I suppose our only option is to wait and see what happens. The guards know about it. The men know about it. And I'll have you at my side until I feel the threat has passed."  
You sighed and pulled your sword to your front and sat down on a chair across from her. "I don't like it."  
"I can't say the situation is what I would like to call most profitable, however, the letter eludes to the possibility of ending this war, and I'm very much into that idea." She irritates you when she pulls out a mirror and begins to fix up her makeup like she's about to meet a dignitary. "It's hard to say how long we'll have to wait, or even where, but since the letter was delivered here to my office, I'm going to assume this will be where they arrive."  
"Did they give a time or anything?"  
"No, that was the entirety of the envelope waiting for me this morning."  
"Great."  
The two of you sit and bullshit for a while longer, and lunch is brought to the office for both of you, so that Rose wouldn't go without protection, and you'd both be here if the troll happened to appear in the mean time. You're just about through your tuna sandwich when the intercom on the Admiral's desk bursts to life.  
"Madam! They're here! The trolls are here! I tried to stop them but they just walked past me, they're on their way!"  
"They just walked past?"  
"Perhaps they're telekinetic."  
You draw your sword and face the door, waiting. You can hear others outside gasping, chairs being pushed back as people tried to stand up from their desks. A few screams erupted as you could only guess what kind of horror was coming your way.  
As the screams got closer, and soon, just outside the door, you brace yourself and prepare to leap when the door opened.  
It didn't open.  
There was a curt knock, and then silence. Your brow furrows as you try to figure out what kind of strategical move that was supposed to be.  
The knock came again. No more insistent, no more angry. Just as curt and sharp as the first knock.  
"I suppose... you should answer the door, Dave." You look behind you to see that Rose has her wands drawn, ready to make her own move should it be necessary.  
You frown and move closer to the door, sword still drawn, and grab the handle. In one fluid movement you fling the door open and put the blade to the troll's nose. She doesn't seem fazed by the movement and meerly closes her eyes, letting out a sigh.  
"I apologize, it appears that my letter left you on edge rather than put you at ease." She opens her jade eyes and looks at you, offering a gentle smile, "May we come in so as to discuss my offer to your race?"  
"Let them in, Dave." Rose's voice was solid and steady, so you put your blade down and step to the side, letting in the three trolls waiting just the other side of the door frame. One look into the bullpen lets you see that at least one of them in a psiionic. Red and blue light holds down a number of your comrades, most of them with faces frozen in fear.  
"Smells nice in here, you must keep a pretty tight ship admiral." One of them lets out a wicked giggle that immediately makes you want to run her through.  
One of the trolls stays near the door, actually leaning on it once you close it. You instantly assume this must be the man of muscle they brought. This bastard was the psiionic.  
"Thank you, I find that cleanliness helps me to think more clearly. Please, have a seat, all of you. Can I offer you something to drink? We have tea, coffee, soda?" Rose instantly turns diplomat on you and you curl your lip in frustration.  
"Thank you for your hospitality. But we will have to decline. Our systems are very different from your own and I dare not accidentally poison ourselves while under your care." The Jade eyed troll raises her hand in polite refusal. "I'm here simply to discuss the matter I wrote to you about, and I dare not stay longer than necessary, my ship is under too much surveillance as it is, and coming here may very well have condemned my entire crew."  
"Then we'll skip introductions and get straight to the point. What is it that you were actually writing us about? Your letter invites quite the number of questions."  
"I apologize that I was not clearer in my writings, but I feared an interception and could not risk any more information that what was given to you. Even putting my symbol on the page was extremely deadly. What I intended to bring about by our meeting was a mutual benefit. We have the firepower and the speed of travel that you lack, however, your tenacity and creativity are something we lack. Perhaps if we could work together, we could assassinate our empress and take our own planet by force, bringing about peace to both our kinds. While yes, we Alternians are a warring race, that can change. There are a number of us who would like to see that change become a reality. Unfortunately we cannot do that without your help. If you would be willing to work with us, the heir to the empress throne is more than willing to offer you a truce that would be very generous."  
"What would be required in order to help you?"  
"Simply put, we are in desperate need of manpower. While there are a number of us wanting peace, only a handful are actually willing to stand up for what we wish to achieve. Very few are willing to risk their lives for it."  
"Don't your people die in battle regardless, what's the big deal as to which enemy you're fighting?" You cross your arms, wondering exactly what kind of trap this harlot was trying to lay for your people.  
The one with pointed cones for horns turns to look at you through red cat eyed shades, "Of course we all die in battle, it's our destiny as Alternians, but if you get caught for treason or are even accused of treason, you're tortured far beyond the point of death. We all pray for quick deaths in battle, because if we don't fight for the empress until our dying breath, she'll remove our airsacs and feed them to her lusis while making us watch." Her high pitched, raspy voice makes you want to punch her again. You preferred the diplomats smooth lilting voice.  
"So, why don't more of you defect, and join forces with us humans, like you're attempting to do now, with more of your on our side, don't you have a better chance of winning?" Rose tried to bring the focus back to her, calming your temper.  
"Clearly your people are willing to listen. That's why I've got them all tied down at the moment." The one against the door finally spoke up, revealing himself to be male, and cursed with an insane lisp.  
"I'm listening." Rose smiled at him with her purple painted lips, and you're not quire sure if the diplomats cheeks just turned green or if you're seeing things.  
She coughed and straightened herself in the chair, "That is what we would like to do, however, we must prove to both of our people that the races are capable of working together, which brings me to my request. We would like to make an exchange, a few of our soldiers, for a few of yours. Working together would prove that it's possible, and more would become likely to join us upon seeing its success."  
One look at Rose's face makes you horrified.  
She's considering it.  
"Who would you leave with us? And what requirements would my soldiers need to join you?"  
"I myself would stay behind, both to learn about your people and to serve as security that we are not hostile. Should anything happen, you are welcome to punish me as you see fit. We also have another who is rather curious about your people, though he is not on the planet with me now. My own combat abilities are best in melee, while he is one of the best shots we have. His rifle is rather hard to compare to anything you have here." The troll looks over at you then back to Rose, "As far as the requirements for your own soldiers to join us, we simply ask for someone capable of holding their own in battle, while having an open enough mind to learn about our race while staying with us. We cannot guarantee their safety while with us, due to the nature of our mission, but I can guarantee that the trolls on my ship will do them no harm."  
Rose put her chin in her hand while she thought, and her smirk became wider. "Would you excuse us while I talk this over with my colonel?"  
The diplomat troll nods and stands, "We shall stand outside the doors and await your decision. Should you deny us, we will leave, no harm done, should you accept, I will send for the second trade immediately." The three of them walked out and closed the door behind them.  
"What the fuck Rose! How can you even consider the idea of joining up with them!? You know damn well their just out to get your best men away from you and plant their own so they can wipe us out from the inside. If you get assassinated, we're fucking screwed and you know it."  
"Yes, I am quite aware of our situation, I am also quite aware that we are screwed without their help. She's right, we're completely overpowered, and having some of them to help increase our chances would be very nice. We're dead as it is. We may as well say we've done something exciting while awaiting our impending doom."  
You frown and push your shades back up on your face, "So you've already given up."  
"I haven't given up, I'm just being realistic. You can't tell me you haven't realised it as well."  
"Well, fuck. Yea, I've seen it coming, but it doesn't mean I want to toss in my chances with this lot."  
"I do. So I suggest you pick someone to go with you and pack your bags."  
"What?"  
"I said, pack." She offers your that vicious smile that dares you to challenge one of her direct orders.  
"Fuck me..." You sheath your sword and walk out of the office, past the three trolls, "I'll be back in five minutes."  
She wants you to pick who goes with? She wants someone wiling to learn, huh? You walk up to the elevator and hit the up button. While waiting, someone walks right into your back.  
"What the fu-" you turn to see the red shaded troll smiling at you.  
"Sorry, wasn't paying attention, too many smells."  
"Whatever. Aren't you supposed to be with your friend over there?"  
"Trolls don't have friends, we have accomplices."  
"That's stupid."  
"You're stupid."  
You turn and look at her, now that she's standing next to you and stare for a minute. "Are you even sane?"  
"Jury's out to debate."  
Oh dear god.  
The elevator arrives and you get in, followed by the troll, "Why are you coming with me?"  
"If I'm taking you back with me, I'm going to need to get to know you, arne't I?"  
You grumble and hit the button for the top floor, "Name's Dave."  
"Terezi."  
The two of you ride in silence the rest of them way until reaching the roof. "So where is your ship anyway?"  
"On the roof."  
You visibly wince as the door opens and you can hear two people shouting at each other.  
"I don't are why you're here you landed right on my plants! Just how rude can you be?"  
"Listen bitch! It wasn't even me who landed this damn thing I'm just the fucking captain! Why don't you just wrap your yapping brain around that and think it over I mean dear freaking jegus how hard is it for any of your kind to realize that not everyone is responsible for your misfortunes?"  
"Are they still at it?" Terezi sighs, "They've been going like this since we got here."  
You look at her in slight disbelief, then back to your girlfriend who is currently arguing with a short, angry troll with short rounded horns.  
"Uh... Jade?"  
"Karkles! Shut up!"


	2. Welcome Aboard the Crimson Sickle

After barely escaping your own planet's defenses with pretty much what you had in your sylladex at the time (thanks a helluva lot Rose), you're now flying through space with a bunch of Aliens you don't know headed for what you can only assume will be your execution. You lay back on the crude cot and pile of blankets offered to you for a bed. Come to find out trolls sleep in vats of slime. Disgusting. The more you find out about these things, the less you like them. You've discovered that the psiionic from the meeting is the one responsible for actually flying the ship, and the one responsible for squashing Jade's rooftop greenhouse. It was easy to say Jade didn't have plans on forgiving him. His name was Mituna. The one Jade had been arguing with was indeed the captain, but he seemed to run a pretty chaotic ship if you said so yourself. He had little control over his crew and a temper to challenge any wet hornet back home. You're actually surprised all that rage fits into such a small package. Most trolls seemed to grow about the same height as an adult human, occasionally some would grow larger, but you'd never met a large one in person. Hell, you couldn't really say you'd ever met any troll in person. Just on the battlefield, and had you seen one of the larger ones, you'd probably have shit yourself and died. It seemed the entire plan had been the idea of the female left on your planet, Kanaya. You didn't know anything about the other one they booted from the ship on their way out of town. Terezi, the one you'd rode up in the elevator with, was apparently the... equivalent to military police? Made no sense to you exactly what she did, but she knew just how to get under Karkat's skin. You're pretty sure there's something going on between them in their private cabin.

Jade had been given her own "respit block" you took that to mean bunk room. You're only slightly worried about her. She's a woman of stature capable of taking care of herself need be. She'd seen her fair share of fights too.You decide hiding in your room all day isn't going to do you any good, and you get up, pressing the button on the wall to open your door. When it slides up, you're face to face with yet another troll.  
"Hello! Karkitty told me we had new guests, so I thought I would come find out what you like to eat? Typical human stuff right? Pizza and noodles with grubsause?" This petit female in front of you stares up with bright green eyes and wider, shorter, yet still pointed horns. They remind you of something, but you can't quite place it.  
"Do you all have a special nickname for your captain?"  
She giggles and waves her hand dismissively, "Oh no, just a couple of us d-" She paused to think about her statement a moment, touching her fingers to her lips in thought, "Actually.... yea, I think we do."  
You roll your eyes behind your shades. Oh yea, this was the idea of morons, and you landed yourself on a ship of fuckups. On the bright side, you and Jade will get to die together, just like you wanted, right? Just the whole growing old part might get cut short.  
"So you're the cook?"  
The female perks up and grins, "Yep! That's why I need to find out what won't kill you."  
"Pizza is just fine." You hope to god her definition of pizza isn't as fucked up as everything else you've seen so far.  
"Okey Pokey!" she runs off and you're left staring at an open hallway.  
"Fuckin' weird ass trolls..."  
"Actually, you're not wrong to think that. Quite the number of trolls would call us strange for the way we behave towards each other and towards your kind. However, its because of us being so 'weird' that you're even here. And also why we're trying to accomplish our particular goal of assassinating our own empress, in which your kind are key. I could tell you more about it if you'd like."  
You turn to see yet another female troll, this one probably a bit older, judging by her curves. "Now, which one are you?"  
She pushes her white horned rims back up on her nose and offers you a fanged smile, "My name is Aranea. I'm in charge of communications here. I am also the most fluent troll in using English. However that shouldn't matter too much, seeing as you've already been implanted with a translator."  
You hide your surprise that she could possibly know that and cross your arms. You're not willing to let her think she might have the upper hand, "And just what makes you think I've been implanted with that?"  
Again she smiles, an almost... motherly? No, playful? No... smug smile. "As if it wasn't obvious. You're a high ranking military official, you were the first one selected for this particular mission, and you've had no hesitation in conversing with any of the crew members thus far." That smile turns into a smirk, "Not to mention I've been speaking Alternian this whole time."  
You slap your own forehead for falling for something so dumb.  
"It's alright, I won't tell anyone. Now, if you wouldn't mind, the captain has requested your presence on the deck." She turns and begins to walk away from you. You can only guess to follow her. This ship is nothing but a maze to you.  
"Where's Jade?"  
"Oh, one of our other crew members is showing her around, introducing her to our science labs and apologizing by showing her our greenhouses. It was rather wise of you to bring along a woman of intellect to accompany you. If for no other reason that to report our habits and possible weaknesses back to your superior when you make your reports, or at least, attempt to."  
"We're allowed to send back reports?"  
"I said you could attempt. We're headed for deep space, and getting anything back to your planet's pathetic receivers from that far would be nothing short of  miracle." She presses a button and opens another sliding door to expose you to the bridge.It was nothing like any bridge you'd ever seen before. In human ships it was mostly dashboards and buttons, radars and sensors and lights and levers. There may have been a small window for looking at the stars, but everything was almost entirely mechanical or electronically controlled. But this... You took a step in and looked around, attempting to hold in your shock and, lets be honest here, envy. Instead of a sonar viewpoint and tiny window 12 inches thick to see the stars through, most of the deck seemed to be made of wide open, perfectly clear panes of glass to see outside. The captains chair was exactly that, a chair. A grand chair with a what looked like a laptop sitting on Karkat's lap, supported by legs. A literal lap desk. Aranea walks around you and over to her own console, a simple desk with a computer. You see her slide what looks like a blue tooth headphone into one ear. It was all so simple and plain, yet at the same time, these bastards somehow have humanity on the brink of extinction.  
"Finally you get your ass out here so we can have a real conversation. I've only risked my ship and everyone aboard to pick your sorry nook sniffing carcass up from that waste rock you call a planet, and show you shit other scum like yourself can only dream of, but fuck you, just hide in your damned room all day and not say a word to anyone. Is that how your kind show gratitude cause if it is boy I'm not sure I even WANT to save your sorry excuse of a race. Itd be more merciful to my migrane to kill you all off." Captain McShouterson, and his mouth diarrhea.  
"More like you coerced the psycho in charge of our planet to sell me me and are dragging me along on some suicidal mission of martyrdom." You crossed your arms and stare down the irritated little alien in front of you.

"Martyrdom? Martyrdom! You think we're going to do something noble and get our asses slaughtered?! Are you completely stupid! No, we're trying to figure out if you people are worth working with so we can do something horribly self serving and commit treason!"

"Captain, I wouldn't be so quick to use such language, not all aboard have agreed to go along with our full plan yet." Aranea's voice was almost mocking from her corner, as though she expected him to start shouting even louder, and the noise would bring her some kind of amusement.

"Fuck you Serket." He sat back in his seat and looks you over, this time taking his time to truly evaluate you. He doesn't seem pleased, but you begin to think he never is. The stubby horned troll then snapped his fingers, and his laptop scuttled off his lap and sat itself down next to his chair. You're thoroughly confused at their technology sometimes. "Walk with me." He stood up and headed towards the door.

Great, more walking around in a ship you didn't know. If he wanted to talk in private, why didn't he just come to your room himself? Was he really that self absorbed that he had to have everyone come to him?

Regardless, he was the one with the information, and you had no better option. As the doors closed behind you, you found yourself keeping stride with the captain as he roamed the halls.

"She's right, I haven't told all of the crew exactly what we're up to. They know we're attempting to work with humans, but they think it's a sad diplomatic move from Maryam. They don't know the true consequences of what we're attempting to do." He ran his fingers through his moppy black hair, something you figure he does a lot by the way it looks so unkempt.  
"So what exactly is it you plan to do? All I got was a 'hey, these assholes look interesting, pack your shit and go risk your life with them on some mission I don't know diddly squat about, other than there's a slight chance the rest of my people won't die." You shove your hands in your pockets as you walk, not sure what else to do with them.

"So, what we want to do, is get a small group of your kind that are willing to work with us, then train the shit out of you so we can send you in after our empress. See, she's protected by the lusus that can invade our brains and turn them into pudding before we get within 20 miles of her. Your kind however, it seems to have little to no affect on."

"How do you know that?"

"She tried to use it before the war, but your planet was all but unaffected. The worst was I think four people died, and we're not sure if it was the lusus or not."

"Ok, back peddle, what the hell is a lusus?"

"Right, I forgot you don't know shit about us and our kind. Don't you have care takers for when you're growing up?"

"Yea, sure, parents. They make whoopy, out pops a baby, badabing badaboom, familiy."

"What?"

"Yea, we have moms and dads."

"Are those different breeds?"

"No, they're... well, I mean I guess they are. Shit dude, just get to your point."

"Whatever. Lusi are the creatures on our world that make sure we don't die while we grow up. First half of our hatchling years, we get taken care of, second half, we take care of them in return. When we hit adulthood, our lusus leaves us and goes to pick out a new hatchling, and we're on our own."

"So, you're parents just, abandon you?"

"What are parents?"

"Lususes, whatever."

"Lusi."

"Whatever."

"They don't just abandon us. We're adults by then. We've got bigger problems than caring for a Lusus."

"Like what?"

"Drones."

"Huh?"

"You really don't want to know."

"O...kay."

"Back to my fucking point." He curled his nose at you in what you think was a snarl, but it was kind of like a kitten trying to look vicious, it just didn't work. "You guys aren't affected by her lusus."

"I thought you said they abandoned you guys at adulthood."

"Her's is special! Shut the fuck up and listen!"  
"Fine."

"So you guys aren't affected, you can sneak past it and get personal with her. You can get close enough to shoot her in the face. We can get you past the defenses as prisoners or whatever. I haven't had time to fully plan it all out. First we have to make sure you guys can actually take on trolls and survive."

"I've killed plenty of trolls."

"Not like this one you haven't."


End file.
